Paradox
by 53N0
Summary: Dreams aren't real…but what happens if you never sleep? Rather, each time you fall asleep you wake up I another reality. If that's the case then which is real? The one you've always known, or the one that you come to love?
1. Chapter 1

A blond-haired boy sighed as he changed into his sleeping clothes. Every day was the same monotonous experience for him; wake up, go to the academy, be ignored whenever he needed help, leave when the academy ended for the day, be ignored of glared at by the people around him, eat at the only place that he could afford, train for his pre-determined future as a ninja, come home, fix and eat dinner, and go to sleep. It was the same exact thing every day.

After he climbed into bed he futilely attempted to fall asleep. It took a few minutes before he simply gave up and opened his eyes, he stared up at the ceiling sadly. "I can't fall asleep…dammit." He groaned. "Maybe I should do personality questionnaire?" He wondered aloud, thinking to a piece of paper he'd received earlier that day.

Nodding to the thought, he climbed out of bed and into the living room of his apartment. He sat at the table where he had set down the paper and grabbed the pencil he'd left next to it.

"Have you ever blurted something out without thinking about the consequences first?" The blond read. "Yes." He wrote embarrassedly. He did that way too often.

"Do you want to be taller someday? Hell yeah!" He answered, he didn't wand to be as short as he was forever!

"Once you've decided something, do you see it through to the end? Of course! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I don't go back on my word!" He exclaimed to himself.

"Have you ever looked a your reflection in a mirror and thought, 'what a cool person'?" He frowned sadly. "Well, not really…but one day I'll be great." He swore.

"You discover a beat-up-looking treasure chest in some ruins. What do you do?" He raised a brow at the question but shrugged it off. "I've never heard of any ruins or even been to one, but if I did find a treasure chest I'd open it right away!"

"Have you ever realized you were hogging the conversation?" A rueful smile made its way onto its face. "I don't have a choice when no one wants to talk to me, do I?"

"Do you think it's important to always aim to be the best?" He grinned. "Of course!"

"Do you want to be famous?" His grin got wider as an image of people lining up to see him entered his head. "Yeah."

"If you saw someone doing something bad, could you scold them?" He scowled at the thought. "I'd kick their ass."

"Are you truly sincere when you apologize?" Apologize? Why should he? It's the only way to get people's attention. "It's not easy to say sorry."

"You're climbing a mountain when you reach diverging paths. Which kind do you take? The narrow path or the wide path." Thinking about his pranks he remembered that people use wide paths up mountains more often so it would be hard to set up a prank in that area. "Narrow."

"Your friend takes a spectacular fall! What do you do?" He furrowed his brow at the question. What would he do if he had a friend? "…I'd help them up."

"There's a rumor going around about a ghost haunting the school bathrooms! What do you do?" He stared at the question for a moment before rereading it. "…Ghosts?" He asked with a shiver before skipping to the next question.

"Your friend is running a little late to meet you. Is that okay?" Thought again on what it would be like to have a friend. "I guess so."

"Do you think blaming something you did on someone else is sometimes necessary? No, why would I do that?" He asked accusingly.

He shook his head. He was beginning to feel a bit tired, maybe he'd be ready to sleep after he was done.

"You're at a movie theater. What are you there to see?" He grinned. He hadn't ever been to a theater since only people with a lot of free money could pay but he'd heard enough to learn about one genre that fascinated him. "An action movie!" He answered giddily.

"You have a really important test tomorrow! What do you do?" He grimaced at the thought. He was never good at tests after all. "I'd have to study all night long just to pass."

"You're in class when you realize that you really have to go to the restroom! What do you do?" He shrugged. "Just walk out, it's not like anyone cares if I'm there anyway."

"Do you think you have good study habits…?" He scratched his cheek embarrassedly. "…Im good at spars at least."

"You've just stuffed yourself with a good meal when a great dessert arrives. What do you do?" Without a moment of hesitation he answered, "Eat it. Who cares if I'm stuffed?"

"Your friend has made a meal that tastes terrible. They ask 'how is it?'. You say…?" He grimaced. Either be honest or lie to their face. He'd rather not do either so he skipped the question.

"You're eating at a very fancy restaurant known for its food. Which course do you select?" He drooled a bit at the thought of tasty food rather than the noodles he was stuck eating on a daily basis. "I'd take anything, it's all good right?"

"Your friend offers to treat you to dinner. What do you do?" His smirk widened into a grin. "I'd never skip out on free food."

"Everyone around you is laughing hard at something you think is pretty boring. What do you do?" He frowned thoughtfully. "…It depends on what they're laughing at."

"You run into a new person that you haven't talked to very much before. What do you do?" He smiles hopefully. "I'd try to make friends I guess."

"Good news and bad news…which one do you want to hear first?" He scowled. "I'd rather get the bad news first so the good news can cheer me up."

"Did you make any New Years resolutions?" He looked up in thought. "Yeah…but they're the same as last year's."

"You're running a marathon, and at the start you fall flat on your face! What will you do?" He grinned determinedly. "I get up and keep going! A little screw up like that isn't going to stop me."

"You've been asked to do a difficult task. What will you do?" His look didn't change in the slightest. "I'd do it myself.

"The phone's ringing! What do you do?" He raised a brow. "I don't have a phone but if I did I'd answer it right away."

"Your friends seem to be making plans to hang out, just out of earshot. You think…?" His mouth dropped into a frown. "No big deal, it's not the first time it'd happen."

"You see a big and comfortable bed. Your first reaction is to…?" His frown deepened. "Curl up on it and try to get some sleep."

He yawned before shaking his head. Now he was really feeling tired, but he was almost done so he'd push himself through the last three questions.

"What's your studying style?" He grimaced. "I don't really study…but I train hard every day."

"Hey, what's that? There's someone behind you! So…did you look just now?" He raised a brow at that. "You'll need a better prank than that, paper."

"You want to reveal that you like someone a whole bunch! What do you do?" He had to think very hard about that question. The approach he used for the girl he used to like got him punched, so his experience said that saying it aloud would only get him hurt. "…Screw it. Say it loud and proud!"

He grinned as he wrote down his last answer. Suddenly he felt a lot more tired and his eyes started to close by themselves. Soon he was leaning on the table with light snores escaping his mouth, and soon after that a hand gently took the questionnaire from under him. The owner of the hand, a figure hiding themselves underneath a white cloak, began to read through the sheet before letting out a small chuckle. "Haha. Even without someone to raise you, you turned out pretty good." He spoke.

"Who are you?" A voice suddenly asked as a a asked man appeared in the room. He wore a mask over the lower-half of his face and a headband with a metal plate tilted down over his left eye. His hair was white and only visible eye was black. He wore a green flack-jacket with baggy black pants, which had pouches holding knives of different sizes.

The figures eyes glowed light-blue under the hood of their cloak. "Kakashi Hatake…" He identified the man.

"…" Kakashi's eye narrowed as he moved to grab his wrist.

The cloaked man stopped him from needing to, by vanishing from where he was in an instant. "Do a world a favor and don't wake him up after he falls asleep, it's dangerous." His voice echoed through the room.

Kakashi's eye narrowed even more as he scanned the room from top-to-bottom. Eventually he confirmed the man had vanished and turned his attention to the blond. "Who was that…?" He wondered aloud, all the while wondering of the man's intentions for the blond.

* * *

><p>"…"<p>

"What happened? Are you okay?" A worried voice asked, rousing Naruto from his slumber. He groggily pushed himself off of his strangely soft table and looked up. Before him was an odd creature. It had the qualities of a cat but surely couldn't have been one. It had cat-like ears and a cat-like face but it's fur was not only pink, which was impossible, but shifted to a cream color for its face that ran down its neck and the lower parts of its body. It also had a thin tail sprouting from its rear that thickened at the end like a cat's toy covered in pink hair. "You're awake! Thank goodness!" It…she, he realized that from her feminine tone of voice, exclaimed happily.

Pausing all questions about the strange, talking creature for a moment Naruto looked around and saw that he wasn't in his home. He was standing on a beach, at sunset from the way his shadow was projected towards the craggy rocks which many crab-like creatures stood upon. Turning to look out over the ocean he was awed the the sight he found. Bubbles that the 'crabs' were blowing floated out over the water and caught the light baring from the sun and reflecting off the water perfectly so that each bubble seemed more skin to a spherical rainbow!

_Where…where am I…?_ He wondered.

"You wouldn't move at all. I was really scared for you!" The cat-like creature informed him, the asked. "Do you have any idea how you ended up unconscious out here?"

_I…I was unconscious?_ Naruto thought to himself in surprise. _But I just fell asleep. What happened…?_

"Anyway…I'm Skitty." The creature introduced herself after guessing that he wouldn't or couldn't answer her. "Happy to meet you!" Her introduction was met with silence, so after a moment she continued. "And who are you? I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I'm…Naruto." The blond introduced himself after a bit. "Uh, sorry if this is rude but, what are you?"

Skitty tilted her head confusedly at that. "I was going to ask you the same thing. I've never seen a Pokemon like you before."

"…Pokemon?" Naruto asked confusedly. "What do you mean Pokemon?"

Skitty stared at him blankly for a long time, not giving him an answer of any indication as to how she felt. "…Do you have amnesia?" She asked. "I mean, ending up on the beach with no clue how you got here, not knowing what species you are, not even knowing what a Pokemon is!"

After a moment Naruto nodded. "Yeah…I can't really remember anything." It wasn't a complete lie, there were some gaps in his memories even if it didn't involve any of this. Some parts of his past were just missing and he couldn't remember.

"Well a Pokemon is…" Skitty began before her ears drooped and her smile vanished. "That's hard. Just, everyone you'll ever meet is a Pokemon. You're a Pokemon, I'm a Pokemon, those Krabby are all Pokemon." She said while motioning to the crab-like creatures still blowing bubbles. "I might say that you could meet a human one day, but they're just myths now. They died out so long ago that only the Legendaries could have known them by now."

Naruto stiffened at her explanation. He hadn't ever heard of Pokemon before but, apparently everyone was a Pokemon. Not only that but humans died out…that's impossible. Everyone he knew was a human, his classmates, the people who ignored him, his teachers, he himself was…wait. He stiffened even more and walked robotically over to the water before looking at his reflection.

Rather than the blond-haired, blue-eyed boy that he'd always seen in his reflection he saw a creature that he'd never seen before. The creature was a humanoid weasel. It had two rounded ears closer to the back of its head and a small snout tipped with a black nose, on either of it's cheeks was a thick 'whisker' jutting out an inch or two away from the face. It's fur was a mixture of yellow and red. Yellow covered its head with the exception of two oval-shaped 'eyebrows' made of grey fur, neck, hands, torso which loosely resembled a monks robes, and the first half of it's tail. Red covered its arms that resembled baggy sleeves, a 'collar' around the neck, the legs, and the end of the tail.

_It's…it's true! I've turned into a Pokemon!_ He inwardly exclaimed in shock. He inwardly shook himself of the thought moments later. _No…I fell asleep…this is all just a dream. A really weird dream._ At the same time though, looking at his new reflection, a sense of familiarity enveloped him. He knew what this was, deep down he knew.

_**Mienfoo.**_ A voice called to him.

"What?" Skitty asked, showing that he had said the word aloud.

"Mienfoo." He repeated. "I…I think that's what type of Pokemon I am?" He explained unsurely. _But how did this happen? I only fell asleep and became like this. _He sighed. _I might as well to with it until I wake up._

"A Mienfoo…?" Skitty repeated, then suddenly jumped in shock. "Wait, that means your name is Naruto!?"

"Uh…yeah?" Naruto responded.

Skitty began to run around in circles, chasing her tail in happiness. "Wow! I never thought I'd meet someone who actually had their own personal name!"

Naruto blinked at that. "What do you mean 'personal name'? Your name is Skitty, isn't it?" He asked.

Skitty shook her head as she calmed down and stood before him. "No, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you don't know." She replied. "You see…most Pokemon don't ever have personal names. We just go by the name of our species. For example: I'm a Skitty so that's what I'm called."

"Why doesn't anyone get a personal name?" Naruto asked.

Skitty didn't respond for a while. "…I don't know." She stated confusedly.

"You don't know?" Naruto asked.

Skitty pouted. "I don't know _everything_, besides, it's more like an unspoken rule that no one has a personal name." She then looked around suspiciously before continuing. "It's said that Pokemon with personal names are meant for great things."

"Great things? Like what?"

"I can't tell you that." Skitty replied. "It's different every time. Sometimes a Legendary goes berserk, other times something that might destroy the world happens, maybe they're just meant to be great." She giggled. "Nobody knows."

Naruto frowned. "I get it…" He murmured thoughtfully. "Thanks."

"No, I'm glad to meet and help a nice Pokemon like you." Skitty replied, then continued in a sad tone. "More and more bad Pokemon have been turning up lately."

"Bad Pokemon…?" Naruto asked.

Skitty began to fidget a bit. "You see…a lot of Pokemon have gotten aggressive lately." She muttered. "It's just not safe anymore-" Two figures suddenly crashed into Skitty, knocking her towards Naruto who did his best to catch her. Unfortunately his attempts only ended with them both knocked onto the sand.

"Well, I do beg your pardon." A deep voice spoke. Naruto looked up to see a Pokemon that was in the shape of a ball with numerous craters, some of which released a visible gas that smelled terrible. It had two eyes and a mouth stretched into a mocking grin, with a skull and crossbones underneath that.

"Hey! Why'd you do that?!" Skitty cried as she stood.

"Heh-heh-heh!" A blue, bat-like Pokemon laughed. This Pokemon was exactly like its counterpart that Naruto knew of only with some slight differences. Rather than having fur it's body was smooth and it's ears and mouth were more prominent, to the point he couldn't actually see its eyes…so there _was_ a major difference: it had no eyes. "Can't figure it out?" It seemed to sneer. "We wanted to mess with you! Can't face up to us, can you?!"

"W-what?!" Skitty asked confusedly, though at the same time she began to shake a bit.

"That's yours, isn't it?" The bat-like Pokemon asked while turning to…look…at an odd rock that Skitty seemed to have dropped.

Skitty looked to it and gasped. "Oh! That's…!"

"Sorry, kiddo." The Pokemon continued, obviously not sorry about what it was going to do. "We'll take that!" It quickly snatched up the rock before either Skitty or Naruto could attempt to retrieve it.

"Ah!" Skitty grit her teeth but didn't make any moves.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" The spherical Pokemon guffawed. "Not gonna make a move to get that back? What's the matter? Too scared?" He goaded. "I didn't expect you to be such a big coward." He then turned to the bat-like Pokemon. "Come on, lets get out of here."

The Pokemon's partner nodded and they began to leave, but it gave one last taunt to Skitty. "See you around, chicken." They then left, laughing all the while.

"…" Skitty's ears drooped and she dropped to the ground, not bothering to stand on her own feet. "…Oh…" She then began to sniffle. "W-what should I do? That's my personal treasure. It means everything to me. If I lose that…" She shook her head and stood. "No! There's no time to waste! I have to get it back!" She took a few steps forward before pausing and looking back to him. "Naruto, can you please help me?" She pleaded.

Naruto thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah."

"R-really?" Skitty asked. "You'll really help?! Th-thanks! Lets go!" Naruto nodded and she lead him away from the beach.

XXX XXX

**Beach Cave**

Eventually the two came upon a small cave at the edge of the beach, they could tell that the two Pokemon had fled there because they could smell the trail of foul gasses one left behind. Along the way Naruto had been briefed about what the two Pokemon's species. They were a Koffing, the round one that expelled gasses, and Zubat, the bat-like one.

Skitty gulped audibly as she led them through the cave. "I didn't think that a place so close could be a Mystery Dungeon." She muttered in shock.

"A Mystery Dungeon?" Naruto asked.

"A Mystery Dungeon is…" Skitty paused as she struggled to put it into words. "Think of them as mazes. You have to find your way through until you reach a set of 'stairs' that either take you somewhere else in the Mystery Dungeon's current floor or actually take you to another floor of the Dungeon."

"Then we just have to find the stairs and keep going through them?" Naruto asked, which he got a nod to. "Then why do you look so worried? We just find our way to the end and beat those two."

"It's not that easy!" Skitty chastised. "Pokemon here are aggressive and they'll attack you the second they see you. If that wasn't bad enough, Mystery Dungeons are always changing. If you leave one and to back the next day it could be completely different! If you get lost inside…there's a good chance that you can die."

"Oh…" Naruto muttered after a bit. "Then why did those two come in here?"

"I think it's because this Mystery Dungeon is new…it'll be easy to get through and the maze won't be very complicated." Skitty explained. "Good for us too, since that means it'll be easier to follow them."

"Shell…" Something growled as it clattered towards them. It was a purple Pokemon that's body consisted of a purple shell with an abnormally large tongue hanging out of it.

"It's a Shelder!" Skitty exclaimed.

Naruto raised a brow at the Pokemon before walking up and crouching before it. "It doesn't look too aggressive to me." He said dubiously.

"Shell…" The Pokemon began as it inhaled. "Der!" It finished as it blasted Naruto with a small jet of water. Naruto glared at the Pokemon after it's attack finished, then proceeded to raise his arm and slap it away into the wall.

Surprisingly a blue berry was left behind on the spot before Naruto and after the Shelder hit the floor, said floor opened up and swallowed the Pokemon whole! "What the hell!?" He exclaimed.

Skitty tilted her head. "There's a rumor that Mystery Dungeons are sentient and care about the Pokemon that live inside them…but I didn't think it was true." She stated while staring at the closed-up floor.

Naruto redirected his attention to the berry before him after a moment and picked it up. Maybe it would come in handy later if he got hungry.

The two continued through the dungeon, running into the odd Shelder or a slug-like Pokemon Skitty introduced as a Shellos. They had managed to travel through two sets of stairs before they came upon a problem, they began to hear moaning as though someone was in deep pain. The two searched throughout the 'floor' before they found the source of the moaning.

It was a fox-like Pokemon with red fur and a cream-colored underbelly. On the top of its head between its ears was reddish-orange 'hair' that curled forward, similarly to the six tails that fanned out behind it but curled outwards. It was covered in bruises and was curled up on the floor. "Ow…"

The two hurried over to the Pokemon and looked it over. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

The fox-like Pokemon shook its head weakly.

Skitty frowned as she looked the Pokemon over. "She's hurt…but we don't have anything to help her with."

"…She?" Naruto asked.

Skitty ignored him as she looked around indecisively. "We should head back to town and get something to help her." She then looked back at the Pokemon. "But if we leave her she could be attacked."

"What about your treasure?" Naruto asked.

Skitty bit her lip. "It can wait."

Naruto nodded and stepped before the Pokemon's face. "We should hurry then, but first." He kneeled and held out the berry he retrieved from the Shelder earlier. "Here, in case you get hungry."

Both the other Pokemon seemed to recognize the berry as the fox-like one quickly gobbled it down while the cat-like one gasped. "Naruto, where did you find a-" She was cut off by the other Pokemon tackling him to the ground in a surprising show of energy.

The fox-like Pokemon giggled as she smiled down at Naruto. "Thanks for the Oran Berry!" She thanked him before turning and running off. "Now I've gotta go and beat the tar out of the guys to did that to me! Later!"

Naruto looked confused as he stood up and turned to Skitty for an explanation. "An Oran Berry is a special berry Naruto, they're packed with stuff that makes you heal really fast. I'm not an expert so I can't explain it to you, but that's how they work." She explained simplistically.

Naruto nodded and turned his attention to where the other Pokemon ran off to. "What do you think she was in a hurry for?"

"She's a Vulpix." Skitty stated, before answering his question. "She said something about 'beating the tar' out of who hurt her so I guess she went to do that. I don't know though…Pokemon that live in a Dungeon would kill you, not leave you moaning in pain. But the only two besides us and her that aren't from this Duneon are…Koffing and Zubat!" She exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes narrowed before he charged forward. "Come on, we have to go help her!"

"Of course!" Skitty replied as she followed.

XXX XXX

After the two seemed to have climbed the last set of stairs they came upon a room that was much different than the rest of the Dungeon. The ground was still comprised of sand just as it had been but it didn't cover the room entirely, rather it held a majority with clear water taking up the rest. A few stalagmites jutted up from the floor and pointed to the roof of the cave where some holes she'd light into the room. It was a very nice area despite everything and if there weren't more pressing issues Naruto would've wished he had a camera.

Alas, the Vulpix standing shakily before them and glaring at the pair of Pokemon that stole Skitty's treasure. "Hey!" Skitty shouted to gain their attention.

Koffing turned to look at them. "Well, well…if it isn't our old friend, the big chicken." He taunted.

Skitty's courage withered a bit but she nonetheless took a step forward and glared at the two. "G…give me…give me back what you stole from me!" She demanded. "That's my personal treasure! It means everything to me!"

"Treasure, you say?" Zubat asked curiously. "So that thing really is valuable, huh?"

Koffing grinned a bit wider. "It could be worth more than we'd hoped for, I'd say." He glanced at Zubat who did the same to him. "We ought to try selling it. Who knows? It might get a good price." He guffawed. "All the more reason not to give it back!"

Skitty looked…horrified Naruto guessed. "You can't!" She cried.

"If you want it back that badly…" Zubat snickered. "Come and get it!"

"You…" Vulpix slowly spoke.

Koffing and Zubat turned to her. "Oh? Looks like she's still awake." The round one remarked.

"You…" Vulpix repeated with a slight growl. "You beat me up…you stole something from the pokemon that helped me…and now you're threatening them…!" She roared, breathing out a small net of flames that surprised Naruto. "I'm not gonna hold back this time!"

"Whoa!" Zubat cried as he dodged the flames. "She's still got the energy to fight?!"

Naruto saw Zubat's alarm as a chance and sped forward. He jumped up and tackled the bat-pokemon into a stalagmite causing him to shudder as his wings were crushed at awkward angles. "Gah!

Koffing growled and tackled Naruto off of his partner before following up with yet another tackle, but this time surrounded by a black aura. "**Assurance**!" He called as he struck.

Naruto was hit directly in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to the water's edge. _What the hell?! Isn't this supposed to be a dream? That shouldn't hurt!_ He wondered through the haze of pain.

"**Zen**…" Skitty muttered as she stood in place, a look of intense concentration plastered on her face as she glared at Koffing.

Meanwhile Vulpix was sending jets of flame after Zubat who was barely dodging them. "Heh-heh!" He snickered, still feeling the need to taunt his enemy despite his wings aching from earlier. "What's the matter foxy?! You keep missing!"

Vulpix growled before shooting forward, becoming but a blur as she pounced up the stalagmites and directly at her opponent. Once she'd succeeded in tackling him to the floor before breathing a jet of flames in his face.

Zubat screeched as he struggled to push the heavier Pokemon off of himself in his weakened state to no avail, after a bit his wings actually caught on fire and the one pinning him down got off. He hurriedly flew into the air and all around to try and get the flames to dissipate. By chance, he caught sight of Vulpix who was grinning a strangely wide grin. It was when a wispy aura began to emanate from her that he realized what was happening and dove to the ground, flailing around in an effort to douse the flames the moment he landed.

It was too late. The wispy aura flew to him and pain flared into existence all over his body as the fires completely covered him and burned twice as hot. Soon the pain became too much for him and he fainted, barely catching the single word that caused his torment.

"**Hex**." Vulpix muttered with an impish smile as she trotted over to the downed bat. "I told you I wasn't gonna hold back this time, didn't I?" She taunted before looking over to Koffing, who had began to charge frustratedly at Naruto only to be dodged each time.

She looked over to Skitty who had become surrounded by a pink aura and was crouched. "This'll be good." The fox-like Pokemon murmured with a grin.

Koffing charged at Naruto time and again only to miss by the slightest of margins each time! No matter what the boy would just barely dip out of the way like he knew where the strikes would come from, which while not surprising was impossible due to the boy's state. He paused for a moment to think of another way when a cry reached him.

"…**Headbutt**!"

_**Headbutt**__?_ He thought. _It's a decent move but it won't be strong enough to hurt me when one of these chumps does it._

It was then that the pink-covered Pokemon slammed into his side and pushed him through a stalagmite, still pushing him until reaching a second stalagmite and stopping.

_Oh…fuck._ The gaseous Pokemon inwardly cursed as he was hit by the attack._ It was a __**Zen Headbutt**_. He corrected himself as pain blinded him for a moment.

"**Suckerpunch**!" Skitty shouted as she broke her concentration, losing the pinkish aura in exchange for a black one. In an instant she spun in place to deliver a nasty blow to Koffing's face with her tail and sending him tumbling back to Zubat.

Skitty quickly ran over to regroup with Naruto and was joined by Vulpix. Naruto stumbled a bit as he gasped for breath, feeling a burning sensation in his chest from so much exercise with no pause.

"Ow ow ow…" Koffing grumbled as he began to float up from the ground, followed by Zubat who awoke when his partner slammed into him.

"Ugh…We got roughed up…" Zubat grumbled as the trio stepped forward.

"Blast it…" Koffig grumbled. "How'd we get wiped out be wimps like them?"

Zubat scoffed. "Here you go. Take it, then!" He said as he tosses Skitty's treasure to her.

Skitty smiled as she caught the object and happily placed it onto her head using her oddly prehensile tail

To bad Koffing thing the moment. "Don't think you're so awesome. Your victory was a fluke!" He said as he and his partner floated higher.

"Yeah, you just remember that!" Zubat agreed as he flew off.

"Oh! It's my Relic Fragment!" Skitty exclaimed as she balanced the rock stop her head, ignoring the duo's words. "Thank goodness…I actually managed to get it back." She then looked between both the other Pokemon by her sides. "This only happened because you both helped me, thank you!"

Vulpix grinned. "No problem!" She said dismissively. "I should actually thank you two, if you hadn't found me when you did I might've died!"

"Can we save the thanks until we get out of the Mystery Dungeon?" Naruto asked the two. "I don't think we should be talking in such a dangerous place, especially when two of us are hurt."

Vulpix laughed, though it pained her a bit to do so. "I'm with him." She agreed.

Skitty giggled. "Yeah…ow." She muttered. "Zen Headbutt always gives me such a headache." She complained.

* * *

><p>"Thank you very much!" Skitty repeated to the two once they were on the beach.<p>

Naruto inwardly sighed. _I only helped because I happened to be there…was that the right thing to do?_ He watched as Vulpix spoke with Skitty and they began to giggle happily, the sight of which gave him an answer. _I guess so. They're happy and it was fun, even if I did get hurt._

The two then turned to him and Spoke. "Thank you for helping me, Naruto!" "Thanks for helping me out!"

He smiled. _It's nice to be appreciated._ He thought. "No problem."

Skitty then stepped forward and grabbed her treasure with her tail and held it between the three of them. "Here's what they stole." She began. "This is a Relic Fragment." She paused. "…Well, at least, that's what I started calling it…I have no clue if it really is part of some relic." She smiled tenderly as she brought it close. "But this Relic Fragment…it's my precious treasure. You see, I've always liked legends and lore…I always get so excited when I hear tales from the past! Don't you feel the same way? Hidden troves full of treasure and strange relics…uncharted territories veiled in darkness…and new lands just waiting to be discovered!"

Midway through her speech Skitty's eyes had become sparkly and if he was honest Naruto liked the idea himself. Vulpix didn't seem adverse either and she seemed to be giddy at the idea as well.

"Such places must be full of good and treasure!" Skitty continued. "And history! Wouldn't it be dramatic to make historic discoveries? That's what I always dream of. It's all so exciting to me." She pressed her treasure to herself and began to nuzzle it. "And it just so happened…that I found this Relic Fragment. Sure, it does look like junk, but take a closer look." She held it out once more and all three looked at its top where an odd design was. "See that strange pattern inscribed on it?"

Naruto nodded. _I've never seen a pattern like this before…it's so weird. _

"There must be some meaning to this pattern." Skitty said excitedly. "This Relic Fragment must be the key to legendary places! To areas where precious treasure lies!" Her excitement withered slightly after a moment. "At least that's the feeling I get. That's why I want to join an exploration team. This fragment must fit into something…somewhere! I want to discover where that is. I want to solve the mystery of my Relic Fragment!" Her excitement suddenly vanished after a bit.

"What's wrong?" Vulpix asked before Naruto could.

Skitty's ears drooped. "So earlier, I tried joining an exploration guild as an apprentice…but…I was too cowardly…" She murmured sadly. She then shook herself of her sadness and looked to the other two. "What about you two? What are you going to do now?" She turned exclusively to Naruto after that. "Especially you Naruto. You lost your memory…do you have anyplace where you can stay?"

Naruto shook his head after a moment.

"Can I ask a big favor then…?" Skitty asked. "Would you form an exploration team with me? I think we could make a good exploration team together." She bowed her head. "So will you do that with me? Please…?"

Naruto frowned in thought. _What should I do?_ He wondered. _Isn't this all a dream? Well, I guess it doesn't matter what I choose then. Still, I don't even know what an 'exploration team' is…oh well. _"Alright." He agreed.

Skitty quickly raised her head with a hopeful look. "Really?! You'll really form an exploration team with me?" He nodded. "Yay! Thank you!" She shouted as she began to shake in excitement.

"Me too! Me too!" Vulpix suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?" Skitty asked as they turned to her.

"I wanna join your team!" Vulpix clarified. "You guys sound like you're going to go to a lot of different places and I've always wanted to see the world! If I join then can I come with you?"

Skitty stared at her for a bit before nodding with a smile. "Yeah!" She agreed as she looked between her two new partners. "We're going to be a great combination! Lets make this work!" She then began to list off some things. "First, we need to go to Wigglytuff's guild and sign up as apprentices. That's where we can get the training to become a proper exploration team."

"Training?" Naruto asked with no small amount of interest.

Skitty nodded. "I think the training will be very tough…so lets all give it our best!"

Naruto and Vulpix nodded and Skitty began to lead them away from the beach.

* * *

><p>"This is Witgytuff's guild." Skitty stated as they stopped before an odd…building? It's wasn't so much a building as a modified tent with an iron gate at its opening. Also, rather than the tent's top being normal it had a giant wooden image of a pink…rabbit…bear…thing from what Naruto could tell about it. It had wide eyes and long pointed ears like a rabbit, but a rounded body much like a bear. Aside from that there were two totem poles featuring odd creatures Naruto didn't recognize but assumed were Pokemon and a small wooden grate in the ground before the entrance. "To form an exploration team, you nee to register your team here. Then you have to train until you become a first-rate exploration team."<p>

Vulpix stared up at the 'guild' and tilted her head. "This place is weird." She remarked.

Skitty nodded and her ears drooped. "Y-yeah." She shook her head. _No! I've got Naruto and Vulpix with me this time. I have to be brave._ She thought to herself before she stepped forward.

"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" A nasally voice shouted as she stepped onto the wooden grate.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Another Pokemon called.

"The footprint is Skitty's!" The first voice answered, then repeated itself. "The footprint is Skitty's."

"What?!" Skity cried as she began to shake, before forcing herself to stand still. _N-no. I can't lose it now…_

"…You may enter!" The second voice called. "Someone's with you! So get them to stand up there!"

Skitty stepped aside and Vulpix stepped onto the grate, after which the process was repeated and she stepped off. It was then that they looked at Naruto who stepped onto the plate.

"…" The voice didn't speak.

"Whose footprint?!" The second voice demanded after a moment.

"…The footprint is…the footprint is…um…" The first voice answered confusedly.

"What's the matter?!" The second voice asked. "Sentry? Sentry?!" No response. "What's wrong, sentry Diglett?"

"Umm…Er…" Diglett struggled with some unseen force. "Umm…the footprint is…unrecognizable."

"What?!" The second voice exploded. "Unrecognizable?!

"B-but…I've never seen a footprint like this before…" Diglett explained.

"Ugh! That's pretty crummy!" The second voice grumbled. "Checking the footprints of visiting Pokemon…that's your job, isn't it, Diglett?"

"Yes, but…I don't know what I don't know."

"What?" Skitty dubiously asked. "Are they arguing?"

"Yeah…I think so." Vulpix remarked.

"…Sorry to make you wait." The second voice suddenly said from much closer. "Well…I've never seen one of you around these parts…" It said, presumably to Naruto. "But you don't seem to be bad…okay, good enough! Enter!"

It was then that the iron gate opened, surprising the three.

Skitty gulped as she watched it open. _I'm so nervous…so jittery…_ She glanced to her partners. _I hope they don't notice. _

"Lets go." Vulpix exclaimed as she charged in excitedly.

Naruto nodded and looked to Skitty. "Come on." She nodded and they entered the tent just in time to see Vulpix jumping down a ladder.

"Th-there's a hatch that leads underground?!" Skitty asked in surprise.

"It makes sense." Naruto stated with a nod. "I mean, a little tent being an entire guild?" He stepped forward and jumped down. Skitty followed soon after.

Once they landed the found Vulpix looking around wide-eyed in excitement. "Wow!" She said breathlessly. "There's so many Pokemon I've never seen before."

Naruto looked around and nodded. Inwardly amazed by the diverse amount of things Pokemon could look like. A pair to his left seemed to consist of a humanoid _sunflower_ of all things and a beaver with a stubbed tail. Two pairs before them seemed to be comprised of a pigeon and a living acorn, and a swallow speaking to an odd pig-like creature that's lower body was a spring respectively.

"So this is Wigglytuff's Guild!" Skitty exclaimed excitedly as the trio walked through the room. "There sure are a lot of Pokemon here. Do they all belong to exploration teams?"

"Excuse me!" A voice called to them. They turned to see a parrot-like Pokemon that's head was almost exactly like a music note. It's wings were covered in blue feathers, it's chest in yellow, and it's neck in white. "It was you three that just came in, right?" She asked.

Naruto nodded for them as Vulpix was still looking around excitedly while Skitty seemed too nervous to speak.

"I'm Chatot!" The Pokemon introduced herself, her voice becoming a bit melodious. "I'm the Pokemon in the know around these parts! I am Guildmaster Wigglytuff's right-hand Pokemon!" She sighed a bit irritably. "Now, shoo! Leave the premises! We have no time for salespeople or-"

"We came to sign up as an exploration team." Naruto interrupted her. He then motioned to Skitty. "Skitty said that we could get training here…?"

"Wh-what?!" Chatot squawked. "Exploration team?" She then began to mutter to herself. "It's rare to see a child want to apprentice at the guild…much less three. Especially given how hard out training is! Surely the steady stream of Pokemon that run away from our rigorous training proves how true that is!"

"Excuse me?" Skitty asked, gaining her attention. "Is the exploration team training that harsh?" She had obviously overheard Chatot's mutterings.

"What?!" Chatot squawked. "Well…no! No, no, no! It's not true in the slightest!" She denied, they needed new recruits after all.

"It's still hard, right?" Naruto asked. "It wouldn't be good training if it wasn't hard."

Chatot paused for a moment before nodding. "Well, well, well! I wish you had told me up front that you wanted to be an exploration team!" She exclaimed happily.

"What a change in attitude…" Vulpix whispered to Naruto, making him wonder when she began to pay attention to the conversation.

"Okay! Lets get your team signed up right away." Chatot said as she turned around in the direction of yet another hatch that lead deeper underground. "Follow me!" She took a few steps before stopping when she didn't hear any more steps behind her. "Oh, anything wrong? Come on! Over here, quickly please!"

The trio looked between themselves before following the Pokemon further underground.

After climbing down the ladder Chatot spoke to them again. "This is the guild's second underground floor. This is mainly where the apprentices work." She explained before leading them before a door to their left. "Team registration is this way. Come along, please."

Vulpix gasped when she saw a window and ran up to it. "Wow! We're two floors down but you can still see outside!"

"Oh, please! Hush now!" Chatot exclaimed worriedly. The three went silent and she exclaimed the phenomenon to Vulpix. "The guild is built into the side of a cliff. It's only natural that you would be able to see outside." She then turned to the door. "Now, here we are at Guildmaster Wigglytuff's chamber. On no account…I repeat, on no account should you be discourteous to our Guildmaster." As soon as the three nodded she turned around and knocked on the door with her wing. "Guildmaster! It's Chatot! I'm coming in!"

There was no response for a moment and she let them in. The room was rounded and had two treasure chests on either side of the room. Closer to the center of the room were two torches that provided light as the sun was going down, and in the direct center of the room was a red mat which a Pokemon not unlike the wooden image over the guilds entrance stood facing away from them.

"Guildmaster! I present to you three Pokemon who wish to join our guild as apprentices." Chatot announced. After a moment of silence she spoke again. "Guildmaster…um…Guildmaster?"

The Pokemon suddenly turned around and yelled out, "Hiya! I'm Wigglytuff! I'm the guild's Guildmaster!" The trio jumped a bit at the sudden greeting but he didn't seem to pay it any mind. "You want to form an exploration team? Then, lets to for it!" He coughed and began to speak formally. "First we mus register your exploration team's name! So tell me your team's name?"

"Oh? Our teams name?" Skitty looked to the other two who were just as lost. "I didn't think about a team name." She frowned thoughtfully. "What do you two think would be a good name for us?"

Vulpix looked lost for a moment before grinning. "Team Awesome!" She suggested, only to receive looks that questioned whether she was serious or not. "…Or maybe something else."

Skitty turned to Naruto. "What do you think, Naruto?"

Naruto closed his eyes, despite thinking of it all as a dream he wanted to end it on a higher note. As such he thought as hard as he could of a good name. "How about…Team Tao?"

"Team…Tao?" His partners repeated questioningly.

"It comes from…I think it was called Taoism?" Naruto wondered. "I don't remember much about it but they had a symbol that everyone knew; the Yin-yang." He kneeled on the floor and began to draw the symbol; a perfect circle split by an S-shaped line and with a small circle on either half's larger end. He then smudged one of the inner circles and one of the halves except for its circle. "The Yin-yang is supposed to mean light and dark being two parts of one whole. If I remember right you both have some attacks that are bright, which are the 'light' or 'yang' half. You both have some 'dark' attacks too, like Skitty's **Suckerpunch** and whatever you did with that wispy aura Vulpix."

The two nodded and actually smiled a bit at the name. "I like it!" Vulpix agreed. "It's perfect!"

"All settled, then!" Wigglytuff announced. "I'll register your team as Tao." He walked around the room and came to a small paper posted on the wall. He took up a pencil and began to write on it. "Registering…all registered…" He said when he finished writing, then suddenly yelled, "Yoom…tah!"

"Is that really it?" Vulpix asked.

"Not really. I have to do some more paperwork, but that can wait until tomorrow!" Wigglytuff explained. "Still…congratulations!" He then went over to and pulled a box out of one of the treasure chests. "From now on, you're an official exploration team! I present you with this in commemoration." He said as he placed it in front of them.

"A Pokemon Exploration Team Kit?" Skitty read confusedly.

Wigglytuff nodded with a smile. "Yup. It's what every exploration team needs. Quick, open it up." He said excitedly.

Being the only one of the team with actual arms, Naruto opened the kit inside was a circular white badge with two small wings on each side, a bag with a red sash tied to it so it could be slung over someone's shoulder, and a rolled up paper Naruto guessed was a map. "Whoa! An Explorer Badge…and a Wonder Map…and a Treasure Bag!" Skitty identified the items. "Yes! There are all sorts of great things in here!"

"Explorer Badge?" Naruto asked.

It was Wigglytuff that answered him. "It's your official team identification! And there's the Wonder Map, which is a wonder of convenience! Finally, there's a Treasure Bag. It lets you carry all sorts of items you find in Dungeons." He chuckled. "Your successes as an exploration team can lead to bigger and bigger space for your Treasure Bag. It's a very wonderful bag! Have a peek inside."

Again, being the only one with arms, Naruto lifted the bag and opened it. Within it was a ribbon and a silver-colored bow. He picked them up and looked them over. "What are these?" He asked the Guildmaster.

"Those items are special. I'm sure they will help you on your adventures!" As the cryptic answer he received.

"Th-thank you!" Skitty said to the pink Pokemon. "We'll do our best!"

"Yup." Wigglytuff said with a nod. "But you're only apprenticing right now. So do your best…to train!"

Naruto grinned. "We will."

XXX XXX

Soon they were led by Chatot to a room down the hall of the second floor. "This is your room!" She stated. It was a simple room, just a couple of beds made of hay and a window. Though they quickly came upon a problem.

"There are only two beds." Vulpix pointed out.

Chatot sighed. "My apologies. We weren't expecting new recruits. I'll have the problem fixed as soon as possible but until then…"

"You two take the beds." Naruto offered as he moved his foot across the ground. "It's not like I don't have experience sleeping on the ground, right Skitty?" He said in reference to how she found him.

"…Yeah." The cat-like Pokemon agreed after a bit.

"What a polite young Pokemon." Chatot muttered to herself before coughing to get their attention. "You will live here while you train with us. Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow! So rise early and start living up to our code! Don't stay up late. Get to sleep early tonight. That is all." She finished before turning and flying away.

The three settled in; Skitty and Vulpix taking the beds while Naruto sat against the wall. After a while the sun had set and left the room in darkness, after which Skitty spoke. "Hey, are you two still awake?"

"Yeah." Vulpix answered, while Naruto grunted as he stared up at the ceiling.

"My heart's been racing all day…" Skitty started with a giggle. "But I'm glad I was able to come here. I thought Wigglytuff would be scary, but he was pretty nice. We'll experience all sorts of new stuff starting tomorrow, but I'm not very frightened. Actually, I can't wait to find out what new adventures are in store for us!" She giggled. "I'm getting a little sleepy…lets give it out all tomorrow."

"Yeah." Vulpix agreed.

It was all silent for a moment before Naruto spoke, oddly sad that his dream would be ending soon. "Hey…" The two hummed in response. "I was just thinking…about that thing where Pokemon don't get personal names…I wanted to give you two your own names."

Skitty and Vulpix perked up and turned to look at him. "Our own names?" The later asked.

"Yeah…" Naruto answered. "Skitty…I'm going to call you Seishin. It means 'Mind' or 'Intent'. Since you can use Psychic and Dark-type moves…or whatever you tried to explain to me…I guess you can fight with your mind and intentions."

The newly named Seishin giggled. "Yeah…you're right. I have to be angry to use Dark-type moves and Psychic-type moves come from my mind, so it's perfect."

"What about me?" Vulpix asked.

"Hikaru." Naruto replied. "It means 'to be bright' or 'to shine'. Your fire was pretty bright, you know? And you're so happy all the time."

The Vulpix laughed. "I get it. Thanks for the name, Naruto."

Seishin closed her eyes and curled up on her bed. "Sleep tight Naruto."

Naruto felt his eyes get heavy, and as he closed his eyes he had one thought. _I don't want this dream to end._

* * *

><p><strong>So…Mystery Dungeon. I really loved the game as a kid and when I got an idea about this I absolutely had to write it. Now as a warning, Naruto will be stuck between the Pokemon world and his own world. Whenever he falls asleep in one he'll wake up in the other. Also, before anyone asks, there's a reason I didn't just use Riolu instead of Mienfoo like I chose to do. <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto sighed as he stared upwards at the ceiling silently. The day hadn't been any different than any of the days before and he was ignored as always, though he couldn't exactly say that was true. One of his instructors at the Academy had begun to watch him closely. Whenever someone began to pay attention to him it was never a good thing and usually ended with Anbu intervention, if he didn't have to beat someone unconscious himself. He scowled as he began to close his eyes, hoping for some form of reprieve during the night.

"Hey! Hey there! Rise and shine!" A loud, deep voice shouted forcing Naruto to immediately wake up.

"Ugh…my head is pounding." He spoke as he grasped at his head. _What a ridiculously loud voice…I think it might've burst my eardrums. _He thought to himself.

"Why are you still asleep?!" The voice demanded. "Wake up!"

"I'm awake now shut the hell up!" The blond growled at the voice. He then clutched his head a bit tighter when a large pulse of pain ran through it. "Ah…my head…"

"M-My poor ears." Another voice spoke

Yet another voice groaned. "Five more minutes…"

"C'mon snap out of it!" The original voice spoke as Naruto opened his eyes to see a purple creature. He guessed it was a form of anthropomorphic hippo. It had an incredibly large mouth and ears on the corners of its 'head', at least he guessed it was since the creature's face took up what would've normally been a torso. It's legs were stubby and it's arms were horribly proportioned, the upper-arm being skinny and the forearm bulging with incredibly thick muscles that lead to three fingers. "I'm Loudred! And I'm a fellow apprentice! If you're late for our morning briefing, you'll be sorry! So move it! Guildmaster Wigglytuff has got a big temper. If you make him lose it…" It shuddered. "That would be one scary scene! I've got goosebumps just thinking about it! So anyway…I'm not about to get in trouble because you rookies got up late! So get it in gear!"

With that it was gone and Naruto's headache finally began to calm. _Wait…Guildmaster Wigglytuff?_ His eyes flew open again as the pain settled. _But that's impossible…_ He looked around and saw the two he'd made an exploration team with the night before. _I'm back here again…but it was just a dream._

Before he could think more on the subject the others in the room dragged themselves from their beds. "Ugh…my ears are still ringing…" The pink one spoke…Seishin the Skitty if he remembered her species and the name he gave her correctly. "What did he say? Something about getting ready?"

"Why do we have to get up so early?" The fox-like one asked. She was…Hikaru the Vulpix.

"Yeah…and that 'Guildmaster Wigglytuff has a bad temper' so we should 'get it in gear'." Say what you want about it being harsh but the Ninja Academy does teach how together details while under great duress. Training methods included shouldn't be mentioned, but they're effective.

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Hikaru piped up. "We signed up as apprentices at the Guild, didn't we?"

"But that means…?" Seishin began as she looked out of the small window in their room, which showed it was about the time of sunrise. The Skitty let out a cry as she began to pace anxiously. "We overslept!" She cried.

Naruto grunted as the two's talking exacerbated his headache. "Lets just go." He said as he led them after Loudred.

Soon enough they were in the room where Wigglytuff's door was, where various other creatures along with Chatot and Loudred stood. There was also the sunflower from the previous…day…three creatures that looked oddly close to a lobster, frog, and wind chime respectively; and a pair of creatures that poked their heads up from the ground, one of which looked like three of the other one that had been fused together.

"You're late, rookies!" Loudred called.

"Hush!" Chatot shushed him. "Your voice is ridiculously loud!"

Loudred huffed but Naruto smiled as he rubbed his head. "Thank you, Chatot." He gratefully spoke.

Chatot absently nodded to his thanks while looking around. "Everyone seems to be present." She murmured. "Very well. Let us conduct our morning address." She spoke, voice turning to a small chime. "Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!" She called.

Wigglytuff burst through the doors of his room with a wide smile, subsequently Naruto fell to the floor grasping at his head.

"Thank you, Guildmaster!" Chatot greeted Wigglytuff, blinking in shock as she spied Naruto beginning to curl in on himself. "Pleas address the crew."

Wigglytuff was silent for a while, a long while.

"How did he bust through the door while he was asleep?" Naruto asked as his partners helped him up.

Hikaru blinked and turned her head to the Guildmaster. "He's asleep?" She asked with Seishin sharing her dubiousness. To them it seemed more like he was analyzing everyone in the room and mumbling to himself every so often.

It was then that the Guildmaster snored.

Chatot inwardly sighed. "Thank you, sir!" She said half-heartedly. "We all value your…words of wisdom." She shook her head and turned back to the group. "Okay, Pokemon! Take your Guildmaster's words of wisdom to heart! Finally, lets not forget our morning cheers! All together now!"

Everyone besides the new three nodded and began to speak. "A none. A two…a one-two-three!" They exclaimed.

Naruto fell to the ground again.

"One! Don't shirk work!"

He began to clutch at his head.

"Two! Run away and pay!"

He curled in on himself while trying to cover his ears.

"Three!" By now the chorus were beginning to notice and some had apologetic looks. "Smiles to for miles!"

"Okay, Pokemon! Get to work!" Chatot chimed as she flew over to Naruto. Everyone, including Wigglytuff, else disbanded as she looked to his teammates. "Is he quite alright?"

"My fucking head." Naruto cursed.

"Ah, a simple headache then?" Chatot mused. She cleared her voice before starting to sing a small wordless song, but it had an effect as the group began to calm immediately. After a while Naruto stood up with a relieved sigh making her stop. "Are you well now?"

Naruto nodded with a smile. "Yeah, and my headache's gone too. What was that?" He asked curiously.

"Just a simple **Heal Bell**. Though it took me a while to learn to use it with my voice." She answered before blinking. "Ah. I never had the chance to show you three what you would be doing, did I?" They shook their heads. "Then please follow me."

Chatot lead them up the ladder, which was very hard for the two quadrupedal Pokemon, to the floor above. It was surprisingly empty considering his bustling it was the night before and they were shown a board with a few papers pinned to it.

"What's this?" The Vulpix asked.

"You're just beginners." Chatot began as she looked around the board, eventually taking one of the papers. "We'll have you start off with this assignment." She said as she handed it to Naruto. It was then that she answered Hikaru's question. "This is the Job bulletin Board. Pokemon from various regions post job requests here." She sighed. "You're aware that bad Pokemon are cropping up in greater numbers, right?"

"Yup!" Seishin answered.

"It's because the flow of time is getting messed up, isn't it?" Hikaru asked. "It's wreaking havoc, right? That's why lots of bad Pokemon are appearing."

Naruto and Seishin looked lost as they stared at their partner. _The flow of time is getting messed up?_ Naruto wondered to himself. _Time? As in hours and minutes? Do they mean that something has gone wrong with the time here? And because of _that_, more and more bad Pokemon are popping up? _He thought incredulously.

"Precisely." Chatot affirmed with a nod. "Time getting out of whack has caused an outbreak of bad Pokemon. Perhaps because of all that…" She shook her head and changed the subject. "We have noticed an increase in the number of jobs. In addition…and it's unknown if this is because of times influence…there has also been a mass outbreak of…Mystery Dungeons."

Naruto raised a brow. _Mystery Dungeons? Like that cave on the beach?_

"So, Naruto…" Seishin whispered to him. "You know how we got my Relic Fragment back yesterday?" He nodded. "I forgot to tell you something. If we were knocked out and weren't killed…we'd have been kicked out with half of our money and maybe even half of anything we might've taken with us…"

Naruto scowled. "Good to know that if we don't get killed we'd get thrown out."

"I presume you all know what a Mystery Dungeon is?" Chatot asked, getting nods in return. "Then that makes things much easier to explain. Jobs all take place in Mystery Dungeons, so go ahead and check that paper to see where you'll be headed and what you'll be doing."

"'Hello! My name is Spoink! An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession. My precious pearl! That pearl is life itself…to me!' Why would…Spoink write that?" Naruto asked.

"A Spoink has to keep their pearl on their head at all times, or at least when they're asleep, or they'll die." Seishin explained somberly. "They have to bounce on their tails for their entire lives to keep their hearts working, the only way to do that while their asleep is to keep their pearl on their head since the pearl switches from heavier to lighter every few seconds."

Naruto grimaced at that and continued to read. "'But I've heard my pearl has been sighted! It's said to be on a rocky bluff…but this bluff is reported to be extremely unsafe. I could never go somewhere so frightening. Oh, friendly readers! Would you be so kind as to go to the bluff and get my pearl?'"

"Wait a second…" Hikaru muttered. "We're just going to get a ball someone dropped? I want a bigger adventure." She whined. "What happened to what Seishin said about treasure and exploring unknown places? I want to do that."

Chatot moved to berate the Vulpix but Naruto spoke first. "Just think about it like a smaller adventure." He said as he continued to look over the paper detailing the job, mainly trying to figure out the haphazardly drawn map on the back of it. "Sure people might've already explored it and sure there might not be any treasure, but it's still an adventure." He scowled at the 'map'. "Besides…are you saying you'd be able to live with yourself if someone died because you wanted to go on a bigger adventure instead of helping them when you could?" He growled.

Hikaru pouted but nodded. "Fine." She agreed before stepping beside him and looking at the 'map'. "Oh, I know where that is."

Naruto glanced at her. "You can read this?"

It was then that Seishin looked as well and tilted her head in confusion. "How can you tell where this is supposed to go?"

The Vulpix laughed. "It's easy, you just-"

Chatot cut her off. "If you're all fine and ready to leave then I suggest you go, as…Naruto…said this is a rather pressing matter."

"Right." The trio agreed before bounding off.

Once the three had climbed the ladder to the exit of the guild Chatot frowned worriedly. "A group of three Pokemon who all have their own personal names…I hope this isn't a bad sign." She murmured before heading to speak with Wigglytuff.

* * *

><p>The area Hikaru led the others to was a grass-covered area leading to a cave entrance, the path to which was surrounded by many large and smooth stones.<p>

"Here we are! The bluff's entrance!" Hikaru exclaimed.

Naruto nodded to her. "The paper said that the pearl should be near the bottom so we'll have to search a bit."

"Don't forget the danger." Seishin reminded them. "It said its supposed to be frightening, so lets be careful."

"Right." The Vulpix and Mienfoo agreed before they all entered.

Once inside Naruto noticed a puddle a few feet away and raised a brow. "A puddle? Has it rained recently?" He asked.

"A puddle?" His two partners asked, one excitedly and the other stiffly. When Seishin turned she smiled and ran to splash in the puddle a bit, Hikaru however darted clear across the room much to Naruto's surprise.

"What's wrong Hikaru?" He asked.

Seishin turned her head and raised a brow at the sight of their partner being far from them before she remembered something. "I forgot, you're a Fire-type aren't you?" She asked as she exited the water and trotted over to the fox-like Pokemon.

"Yeah." Hikaru bit out. "So me and water don't mix."

"Fire-type?" Naruto asked curiously.

Both girls turned to him and stared for a while before Seishin sighed. "Right…you didn't even know what a Pokemon was when you woke up so you definitely don't know what a 'Type' is do you?" At his silence she nodded. "Okay then. I'll teach you what they are."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Hikaru interrupted. "He didn't know what a Pokemon was? What happened to him?"

The Skitty gave her best shrug in response, along with a saddened look. "I don't know. I found him unconscious on the beach yesterday and when I woke him up, he had to idea what he was. All he knew was his name and it took him a bit to remember what Pokemon he is."

The fox-like Pokemon grimaced at Naruto pityingly. "You really don't know anything about Pokemon?" A shake of the head was his answer. "Not even what Type you are?" Another shake of the head.

"See?" Seishin said expectantly. "He doesn't know anything so we'll have to explain things to him." With that she turned to the Mienfoo with a smile. "Alright, lets start with the basics! There are seventeen different Types of Pokemon: Bug, Dark, Dragon, Electric, Fighting, Fire, Flying, Ghost, Grass, Ground, Ice, Normal, Poison, Psychic, Rock, Steel, and Water."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "That's a lot…" He murmured.

"Yup!" The cat-like Pokemon agreed. "There are seventeen different Types of Pokemon, and more than five-hundred different kinds of Pokemon! That said, they're all good against some Types and bad against others." That caught Naruto's interest. "For instance…Normal-type Pokemon like me are bad against Fighting-types, but we aren't hurt at all by Ghost-types…we can't hurt them either though."

"Or!" Hikaru piped up. "A Fire-type like me! We're weak when it comes to Ground-, Rock-, and Water-types; but we're strong against Bug-, Grass-, Ice-, _and_ Steel-Types." She listed proudly.

"What's so good about that?" Naruto asked dubiously. "Wouldn't it be better to be a Normal-type and only be weak against one thing? Instead of being weak against three."

Seishin shot Hikaru a smug grin before deciding to dissuade Naruto of that illusion. "Not really Naruto. While Fighting-type Pokemon _are_ pretty rare, a lot of Pokemon can learn Fighting-type Moves."

"Moves?" Naruto questioned.

"Geez, he doesn't even know what a Move is?" Hikaru asked. She then turned to Seishin. "Are you sure it was a good idea to pick him to be a member of the team? I mean sure he gave us a cool name for a team and gave us good personal names, but he's a bit…"

Seishin gave her a harsh look. "If he wasn't there I wouldn't have had the courage to go into the Beach Cave and we wouldn't have been able to help you, and I wouldn't have been able to ask if you wanted to form an Exploration Team either." She chastised before returning her attention to Naruto. "Moves are…they're hard to explain. It needs a bit of a history lesson too." She frowned as she remembered the mission. "We don't have the time to stay here while I explain either…lets go look for Spoink's Pearl while I explain."

"Right." Naruto agreed, followed by Hikaru's agreement as they set off. "So…what is the history lesson?" He asked after a moment.

The Skitty sighed. "Well, all Pokemon evolved from the same kind of Pokemon. The only one left of them is; the Legendary called Mew." She began. "For various reasons Pokemon started to get different Types depending on where they lived. Pokemon that were around volcanoes became Fire-types, the ones in the oceans became Water-types, ones in mountains became Ground- or Rock-types with the rare Steel-type."

"What does this have to do with Moves?" Naruto interjected.

"I'm getting to that, just wait a bit." Seishin replied. "After a while though, Pokemon started to breed with other Pokemon that weren't the same Type as them and the kids could sometimes have _two_ Types. Over time more and more Pokemon started to pop up with two Types and they became known as Dual-type Pokemon." She paused to take a breath and saw a perfect example appear in the room they had entered at that moment. "Take that Anorith for example."

Naruto turned to look a the Pokemon and was surprised by its appearance. It looked like a flattened lobster with eyes jutting out on short stalks to either side of its head. It's shell was primarily a grayish-green but over its top it turned a very dark-grey. It's two legs that were farthest to its front were pointed directly forward while the others on its sides looked nothing like legs, they looked like white feathers with red tips.

"It's a Rock- and Bug-type Pokemon." Seishin stated. "It's weak against Rock-, Steel-, and Water-type Pokemon, but strong against Normal- and Poison-type Pokemon. Normally Bug-types are weak against Fire-, Flying-, and Rock-type Pokemon; and strong against Fighting-, Grass-, and Ground-types. On the other hand Rock-types are weak against Fighting-, Grass-, Ground-, Steel-, and Water-types; but are strong against Fire-, Flying-, Normal-, and Poison-Types. Put the two together though? You get all the good and bad of both making it so that Fire-types don't do anything special, and neither do Fighting-, Flying-, Grass-, or Ground-types."

"I get it." Naruto said with a nod. "Dual-type Pokemon have the same strengths and weaknesses of both their Types but some cancel each other out. That doesn't explain what it has to do with Moves though."

"Right." Seishin agreed with a nod. "Now we can get on with Moves. A long time ago while Pokemon were still evolving to how we are today we started to fight or hunt each other for food. As time went on we started to learn to use our Type's natural powers to attack."

Hikaru spat a small flame to punctuate that. "I'm a Fire-type so I can breathe fire! I'm pretty hard to burn because of that so that's why I'm good against other Fire-types."

Naruto nodded.

"Eventually though, just using your own Type's power wasn't enough." Seishin continued. "So Pokemon began to learn how to use other Types of Moves, Moves that certain members of our family or ancestors could use. For example, I can use Psychic-type Moves because one of my parents could."

"Same for me using Ghost-type Moves." Hikaru added. "My dad could use them and so can I!"

"I get it." Naruto began to look himself over. "What Type do you two think I am?"

"Fighting-type. Definitely a Fighting-type." Hikaru immediately responded. "You stand on two legs instead of four and that's what most Fighting-types do, and if not then there's a high chance that you can learn to use a lot of those moves anyway."

Naruto slowly came to nod. "Do you know anyone who could teach me to fight?"

That left the two silent. They shared a glance before both shaking their heads. "No, I learned everything I know naturally. It's all basic things that Skitty's or Psychic-type Pokemon learn."

"Same here…I just know some basic stuff any Vulpix knows and a few things my dad taught me before he left." Hikaru agreed.

Naruto sighed. "Oh…"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" The Vulpix told the Mienfoo cheerfully. "Just like we learn things as we grow, so'll you! So don't worry about it and just let it come to you."

"You're right…" Naruto agreed. "If I wait everything will come to me sooner or later."

"Right!" Seishin seconded. "Now lets go find that pearl."

The other two nodded and they headed off.

XXX XXX

"Over there!" Seishin exclaimed after almost an hour of searching. Her tail was pointed at a small pink sphere laying before a rounded set of stones stacked atop each other like a set of stairs, on top of which there was a small fountain that leaked water down into two small pools heading into the area.

The trio hurried over to the sphere and Hikaru nodded. "This has to be Spoink's pearl." She announced.

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked. "I'd hate to go back with the wrong pearl and have to come back again."

"I'm positive!" The Vulpix said confidently. "I've met a Spoink before and this is the same kind of pearl they have."

"Then lets take it and hurry back." Seishin stated as she grasped the pearl with her tail and placed it in the Wonder Bag that Naruto held.

"I guess…" Naruto agreed half-heartedly.

* * *

><p>"Th-thank you!" Spoink announced to the three once they returned to the guild. It was exactly like the Spoink Naruto had seen the evening earlier, but covered in bumps and bruises. "This pearl must be propped on my head, you see. I missed it so much! I just couldn't settle down with out it up there! So I had to boing and sproing everywhere! That's why I'm covered in dings and bumps." It shook its body since it didn't appear to be able to shake a specific part of itself. "But thank you, that long nightmare is over. You have my sincere thanks!"<p>

It then bounced up to Naruto and handed him some items that Seishin identified. "A Protein…a Calcium…? An Iron?!" The Skitty exclaimed incredulously. It was then that a large bag of what Naruto guessed were coins was placed into his hands.

"Holy- there must be at least two-thousand Poké in there!" Hikaru exclaimed, giving the Pokemon a disbelieving stare. "You're seriously giving us all this stuff?"

"Of course! Of course!" The Spoink replied. "That's nothing compared to my pearl's value!" It then started to bounce away before coiling its tail underneath the ladder leading to the exit. "Farewell!" With that it sprang up and out of sight.

"We're rich…" Hikaru muttered as she stared at the sack of coins. "We're rich."

"Well done, team." Chatot spoke up, having been silently watching over the event. "Now hand that money over, if you please!"

"Excuse me?!" The two quadruped Pokemon asked in shock.

Naruto did so without a question as his two partners watched. "I guessed this would happen when Hikaru said how much money there was." He stated.

Chatot nodded and began to explain. "Most of the money from jobs goes to the Guildmaster, you see!" She counted up the entirety of the sack at in unbelievable rate before separating a small amount. "And your team's share of the money comes out to…two-hundred Poké."

Naruto took it with a nod after setting the three gifts from Spoink in the Wonder Bag. "Ten percent?" Chatot nodded.

"We only get to keep two-hundred Poké?" Hikaru asked. "That's not fair!"

"It's completely fair when you take in the fact that we're given a place to sleep…and I'm guessing free meals?" Naruto asked.

"As well as free training in whatever area you wish to learn so long as another member of the guild is capable of teaching you." Chatot agreed with a nod.

"So in short…home, food, and training." Naruto summarized to his teammates. "Along with more jobs to make more money. I thought we'd get to keep at least fifteen percent though…"

Seishin raised a brow, consternation against having money taken satisfied but confusion growing. "How do you know so much about money?" She asked.

Naruto opened his mouth to answer only to close it with a frown moments later. "When did I learn so much about money?" He asked himself.

"Maybe he remembered something?" Hikaru supplied. "You said he didn't remember anything when you found him so he might just be remembering what he used to do."

"Didn't remember anything?" Chatot inquired.

"Well…" Seishin began sheepishly. "I only met Naruto yesterday when I found him unconscious on the beach. He didn't have any memory of anything when he woke up."

"Anything?" Chatot asked expectantly.

"Not even what a Pokemon was from what I heard." Hikaru answered.

"Not even what a Pokemon is?!" Chatot squawked. She turned to Naruto with a worried look. "You poor thing. To not even know what a Pokemon is…I'll have to inform the Guildmaster posthaste." With that she flew off down a ladder.

The team stood there in silence for a moment before Naruto sighed. "What do we do now?" He asked while glancing out a window at the sunset. "I'm hungry." He muttered.

Hikaru nodded. "Me too."

Seishin frowned, her pink ears matting against her head. "I don't know where to get food here…maybe we should take a look around downstairs?"

The other two nodded and they all went through the area where Chatot had flown down moments before. At the bottom of the ladder they heard a small racket within the Guildmaster's room. "We should stay away from there." Hikaru muttered, gaining two nods.

It was then that they all heard a bell chime from their right. "Everyone! Thanks for waiting!" The voice chimed, followed by the chime-like creature Naruto had seen that morning floating into the room. "I finished making dinner!" It announced in time for Pokemon to rush into the room. "Come on! Dinners on!"

XXX XXX

Dinner was a near-silent affair. Everyone in the room watching Wigglytuff hold an apple with a thoughtful frown, something the trio guessed was an uncommon occurrence.

Soon enough dinner was over and everyone began to meander out. "Ah! I'm done eating! Excellent meal!" One said nervously as he snuck away.

"I'm stuffed, and now I'm getting sleepy…" Another said as they meandered away stiffly.

"Yup, I'm off to bed! Good night, gang!" Yet another exclaimed while actually running out.

"Good night!" We're others' simple words as they left.

Eventually the trio left but Chatot had flown after them. "A word." She stated forcing the three to stop.

"Yes?" Hikaru asked nervously.

"Now…I will not ask what possessed you to have an _amnesiac_ join you in making an Exploration Team." The parrot-like Pokemon ground out sharply. "However, I and the Guildmaster have decided that he will have to be educated properly in what he has forgotten. For that purpose I'll be borrowing him on some days to educate him, are we clear?" The two recently-named Pokemon nodded. "Good, now off to bed with you."

XXX XXX

"Say, Naruto…" Seishin muttered after they had all gotten into their spots for bed. "Today was pretty hectic with everything we went through, wasn't it?"

Naruto hummed his agreement while Hikaru spoke up. "Hectic? Naruto woke up with a migraine and we spent most of the morning worrying if he'd pass out because everyone was yelling. Then we had to go on a boring job and explain a lot to Naruto…and to top it all off we got the Guildmaster angry! Hectic is an understatement." She groaned.

"Yeah…" The Skitty murmured. "But I'm glad our first job turned out so well. I was really mad about how the guild takes so much money though."

"That's just the cost of training." Naruto said wistfully. "You can't do anything about it."

Seishin nodded. "Yeah. But what made me really happy today was getting thanked by Spoink!"

"Haha. Yeah." Hikaru agreed.

"I guess so." The male member of the team muttered.

Seishin yawned. "I'm getting sleepy. I'm going to sleep. Lets try our best again tomorrow. Sleep tight…Naruto, Hikaru."

"You too." The Vulpix replied.

After a while Naruto opened his eyes and looked over the two. "I wonder if my wish will come true…" He murmured as he closed his eyes. "Will this dream never end? Or will I just wake up one day and forget it ever happened?"

It was times like this that he wished he could see into the future. Then again, what kid didn't eat that power at one point? A smile graced his lips as he fell asleep and woke up the next instant in his bedroom with the covers over his face.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Well…that took a hell of a lot longer than expected. But I guess being late with stuff comes with being a procrastinator. Anyway, time to answer some reviews.<strong>_

_**Naruto as a Pokemon sucking: Naruto has no clue what's going on so he'll just be working on taking things in for a while. Once he gets to figure everything out though? He's Naruto. Enough. Said.**_

_**Naruto creating Jutsu like Pokemon Moves: He won't, but instead he'll be able to use Pokemon moves in his world since it's basically chakra or mental manipulation anyway for the types of moves he's learning. **_

**_Finally evolution: Eventually. Sure by the time they can they'll be way over-leveled but I picked these Pokemon for reasons. They pretty much learn the same moves without evolving as they do with evolving, so either way it doesn't matter. _**


End file.
